In the design of enclosures for electronic equipment, a compact arrangement of the equipment is often required. In such enclosures, a movable chassis is often provided at the front of the enclosure while other equipment is situated at the rear of the enclosure. Such assemblies require means to permit access to all of the equipment within the enclosure for tasks such as routine maintenance, troubleshooting and repair, equipment retrofitting, and the like.
Several means have been proposed to provide access to the equipment which is tightly packed into a limited enclosure space. One means is to provide for complete removal of a portion of the equipment which provides access to the equipment removed as well as that which remains in the enclosure. This is a time consuming task, however, and can result in damage to the equipment removed if the removal is done carelessly. Another means is to provide for mounting of a portion of the equipment on hinges so that that portion can be swung about the hinge and moved, at least partially, from the enclosure. Such a construction puts severe limitations on the size of the equipment, since the equipment must be small enough such that, when it is swung in an arc about the hinge, the equipment will clear the end of the enclosure. Such a construction, however, still does not permit complete access to the interior of the enclosure since the equipment, even when moved about the hinge will still partially block the enclosure. A more common means for moving equipment within an enclosure is to mount the equipment on a chassis which is slidable from the interior of the enclosure. While such a sliding chassis system allows complete access to the equipment on the chassis that is moved from the enclosure, this system still blocks complete access to the interior of the enclosure and to other equipment at the rear of the enclosure.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a slidable and swingable assembly for a chassis in an enclosure that permits complete access to the equipment mounted on the chassis as well as other equipment that is located behind the chassis in the enclosure.